Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Knight's Shield - November 2017

Please keep in your prayers Sir Knight Joe Bono who went home to the Lord on September 28. Please pray for his family members so they have peace at this difficult time in their lives. Thank you Phil Mularski for honoring Joe with a beautiful and meaningful Rosary/ Eulogy and Hank LeFlere, Gary Skarb, Tony Guido, George Loewen for their part in praying the rosary. Kathy (Joe’s daughter) thanked me many times for all the love and support the Knights have given her and her family. She also said how much Joe Loved the Knights and was Proud to be a Knight.

The loss of Brother Joe Bono leaves the vacant position of Inside Guard. You can nominate another 3rd Degree Brother, or self-nominate yourself if you have attained 3rd Degree status. At October’s General Membership Meeting, nominations for Inside Guard were accepted: Leon Berdy, Nick Oliveri, Bill Gowland and Rick Dutts. We will vote for the position of Inside Guard at the November General Membership Meeting.

November is upon us, and it is time to reflect on the year that has passed: to be thankful for the blessings God has given, and remember the ones he has brought back to his fold. The 18th of this month, we will honor, remember and pray for those who have fallen this year, and pray for those who are heading into this holiday season missing a loved one.

Please make an effort to make contact and share memories with someone you have lost touch with lately. During this time of the year, our thoughts generally turn toward the Holidays coming up, Christmas shopping, and football. In addition to those things, I’d ask each of you to remember the first and foremost principle of our Order…Charity. This is the time of year when your charity is most needed. Remember that charity doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of a monetary donation. There are many ways to serve others with just your time.

I beg of you to ask a Catholic friend of yours to become a member of our Council. Not only will it assist us in making our programs run easier, but new members bring in new ideas to infuse into our council. Please realize that being a Knight is not only a benefit to our council, it is a benefit to that person and their family. It is my hope that the Knights make us better husbands and fathers, better friends and coworkers, and better people in general. When you join the Knights, you’re joining an organization that thrives on true catholic family values...an organization that is deeply rooted in our faith with a strong bent toward charity….an organization that supports each of their members through good times and bad. Go out and recruit. Bring in a friend, a father, a son, etc.

The K of C Euchre Tournament was held Saturday, September 30th after 4:30 pm Mass, and was well attended by members of our Parish and guests. Thank you to Mike Hartel and all the helpers (whose names I do not have) for putting this event on.

I would like to thank George Mejaly for inviting his niece Diane Deluca RPh once again this year for the distribution of flu shots at our last General Membership Meeting, where 21 Flu shots were given. Also I would like to thank Rick Okerhjelm, Vito Guzzardo, Phil Bonnette and all the helpers for their outstanding dinner and service at this meeting. We had a nice meal and social time with Brother Knights and their wives.

The fall clothing drive headed up by Past Grand Knight Jerry Hund was successful as always. Thank you Jerry for loading your new Ford truck. With his helpers they delivered the donations to St. Aloysius Outreach Center in Detroit. These donations are not sold, but given to the needy in our neighborhoods. The clothing drive is just another example of “Charity” and what being a Knight of Columbus means.

The 2018 Basketball Free Throw Competition was held on October 14th at St. Clement of Rome in Romeo, MI. Thank you to Hank LeFlere, William Hill, Ralph Pullis and Vince Ursini for standing in for me and running St. Paul’s part in this event. I will post the results next month as they are in California (where we all probably wish we could be right now….LOL) as I write this article.

2018 Participants from St. Clement of Rome, St. John Vianney, St. Isidore and St. Paul of Tarsus


Our 5th annual Trunk or Treat was enjoyed by over 125 attendees this year. The children had a fun time. There were games, food, prizes and a Halloween Costume Parade. Thank you for the many, many volunteers, and over 15 Confirmation candidates, along with over 25 vehicles who passed out treats. Please see our new website: www.spotknights.com for pictures and videos.

Winners of the Costume Parade Contest

The Winner of the Best Vehicle Costume is Vivian and Peggy Dudley


Please add this to your calendars: On the weekends of December 2nd - 3rd and 9th- 10th , Brother Jerry Hund will once again be heading up the ham and kielbasa fund raiser for Christmas. He, and other Brother Knights, will be taking orders for your holiday meats. All products; Hams. Kielbasa, Turkey, etc. are the Dearborn Brand.

Brother Ken Krause brings so much help and joy in his selfless sacrifice to the Knights and the Church. To quote what he has said in the past, “he truly appreciates the many volunteer hours that fellow Knights put in to help brighten the outside of St. Paul of Tarsus during the Christmas season.” We hope you will consider helping us put up our Christmas lights here at St. Paul. There is not a date set in stone yet, as Ken is watching the weather forecasts for November. So for now, if you would like to help, please call (586-263-7115) or E-mail: (krause2house@yahoo.com) Ken to let him know you are interested in helping.

Vivat Jesus
Art Krygowski
Grand Knight/Youth Director

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

The Knight's Shield - October 2017

Please keep Joe Bono and his family in your prayers. At the time of this writing, he has been placed under hospice care. I visited Joe in the hospital. He does not understand how he went downhill so fast, but he said that he had lived a good long 92 years and he loved being a Knight.

Remember also in your prayers Ross Vizzaccero, member of 11689 and a past member of St Anastasia and the Knights,who went home to the Lord September 6, 2017 at age 97. Ross was active in the Church and Knights. He made many friends while living in Troy. Later in life Ross and Jo downsized and moved to the East Side.

Last month, as I mentioned, the Knights gave a retirement gift to Fr. Ron of $500.00 for the needs of his new condo.

I would like to thank Ralph Pullis and the Knights Breakfast Team on another successful breakfast on September 10th. We had over 180 satisfied customers. Proceeds will be donated to St. John the Apostle Anglican Church McRest Program. The next Pancake Breakfast will be November 12th.

Our Corporate Communion was well attended on Sunday, September 16th, with over three rows of Knights and their families, and six members of the Color Corps of the Fourth Degree. The next District Corporate Communion will be November 19th at 11:30 am Mass.

October is here and so is the start of our busy season! Please try to help out at any of our events. Even If you have an idea of your own, bring it up so we can grow our presence in our church and community.

Membership to the Knights of Columbus is on a steady decline. A Quote from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson: “Most brother Knights say they were asked to join the Knights of Columbus by a family member or friend, yet too many Knights today rarely ask someone to join us. All of us need to make an extra effort to extend the benefits of membership to more Catholic men, so today I ask every brother Knight to recruit at least three new members this year.” The growth of the Knights of Columbus depends not only on recruiting new members, but also on retaining current ones. These retention efforts for new members begin once he joins the Order. In addition, efforts must be made to retain longstanding members and to keep them enthusiastic about the Order. There will be a membership team meeting on October 5th at 5:30pm in Conference Room 1, if anyone would like to attend and bring ideas on how to recruit new members.

At our October 9th General Membership Meeting, George Mejaly’s niece will be here offering flu shots to all Knights and their families. Bring your Health Insurance Card, or if your Insurance does not cover this she will take cash ($25 I think). I am working on producing a photo book for the Knights with your smiling face and name. So Please attend the October and/or November Membership meeting to get your picture taken. Talking with some brothers and speaking for myself, I am not sure who you all are by name. If this works out I am hoping to have them done by Christmas.

Also we will be having our fall clothing drive at our October meeting on October 9th. As usual all types of clothing, apparel, shoes , jackets, etc. are needed for the many unfortunate homeless, including women and children who are also in need. The items will be donated to the St. Aloysius Outreach Center in downtown Detroit, to be distributed to those in need. The items are not sold, but given to the homeless for their personal use. This time of the year, warm items are of great importance...even hats, gloves and scarves make a difference to those struggling in the harsh weather. A pickup truck will be parked outside the hall before the meeting to drop off the various items. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by the Outreach Center, and we are fulfilling the First Principle of Our Order, “Charity”.

Your help is needed to continue building our 4th annual Trunk or Treat. This year's event will be on Sunday, October 22nd beginning at 2PM with set up at Noon. There will be a planning meeting on October 5th at 7:00pm in conference room 1. Please try to attend this meeting as we are looking for additional people to pass out candy from decorated trunks or tailgates and new ideas for kid’s games. Last year, over 100 of St. Paul’s youth came out to partake in this event. We have also asked for support from the Choir, Men's Group, Men's Faith Sharing Group, Women of Faith, and Youth Group. The next District Planning /Workshop is October 10th at 7:00pm at St. Clement of Rome in Romeo. Please try to attend. This is a good time to meet brothers and share ideas from our four other District Councils.

The semiannual Adopt-A-Road project will be Saturday, October 21st 8:00am.

Our Major Degree here at St. Paul’s on October 14th has been cancelled and will be rescheduled as a Joint Major Degree on October 28th at St. Hubert’s Council 11658 in Harrison Township, Mi. Start time is 9:00am for the Admission degree, and 10:30 for the Formation degree.

Starting with November’s Knight Shield, they will not be U.S.P. mailed. They will be E-mailed to all on our E-mail list. If you do not get E-mails from George Loewen, please let me know so we can add you to the list. As of right now there are about 150 E-mails on file. If we do not have your E-mail we will still U.S.P mail them to you but the goal is to E-mail to as many as possible. There will be hard copies at the meetings for those who did not get an E-mailed copy. We are spending $1200.00 a year on mailings, we would like to reduce this cost to allow us to use our hard earned money for other worthy causes. Please remember that the Knights Shield is also available on the church’s website: www.stpauloftarsus.com, or our web-site: www.spotknights.com. We are also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Vivat Jesus
Art Krygowski
Grand Knight

HAPPY FALL!!!